SREI Sahaj to create IT rural infrastructure project in India

Published: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 17:04 [IST]

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Kolkata, May 28 (UNI) SREI Sahaj e-village Ltd, a subsidiary of SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd, has embarked on the largest rural IT infrastructure project in the country with an estimated investment of Rs 1000 crore.

Announcing this here today, SREI Chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria said the project entailed setting up 25,000 Common Service Centres (CSC) in rural India across six states- West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Kanoria said these centres would link the rural areas with the world and provide all necessary services.

He said e-governance, e-commerce and e-learning have already been incorporated in the bouquet of services to be offered and the service range would be expanded gradually.

"The implementation of CSCs has already begun in West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu and within the end of next year all these 25,000 centres would be operational,'' Mr Kanoria said.

He said about 25,000 entrepreneurs would run the CSCs and they in turn would create direct employment of another 75,000 persons in the rural areas.

"This venture of creating rural infrastructure is exciting and will service 21 crore rural people, about 33 per cent of the rural population of our country," said Mr Kanoria adding the government's plan was to set up 1,00,000 CSCs for offering such services.

SREI's share through its operations in the six states has already touched 25 per cent, which would make it the single largest service provider in the rural area, Mr Kanoria maintained.